


that green gentleman

by lovescneario



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: M/M, uhhhh tags will be added as we go !
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 02:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17255819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovescneario/pseuds/lovescneario
Summary: SHOP WITH YOUR OWN KOREAN OPPA NOW!Now at $XXX an hour.Go splurge, eat your favourite food, or simply have fun with your very own Korean Oppa!





	that green gentleman

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ketchup (moonlikeyou)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlikeyou/gifts).



> ok so... miss @moonlikeyou gave me a prompt AGES ago and told me to write it... so here it is! i had the most fun writing this, and i could not have done this without @moonlikeyou and her big brain, so go give her some love! kudos to you if you can tell where the title is from!

Lucas feels his fingers barely scrape the pool’s tiled walls. 

“41.23 seconds!” 

Lucas lifts his head from the water, panting, and he glances over at Chenle and Renjun in their respective lanes, already done seconds before. They were having the time of their lives, leisurely waiting for Lucas at the finish line. 

“Fuck”, He mutters unceremoniously under his breath. What was he expecting anyways? Heaving himself out of the water, he joined Chenle and Renjun, who were already waiting for him by the poolside. 

“Don’t worry dude, we won’t make the dare too harsh,” Renjun pats him on the back, in attempt to console him. Chenle nods in agreement.

“Yeah, it’s just a simple dare! It’s going to be over real soon anyways,” Chenle adds, a bit too cheerfully. Lucas scowls. Easy enough for Chenle to say, when he wasn’t the one who came last in the race. The three of them had agreed that whichever one of them three that came last in the 50 metres Freestyle event would have to agree to complete a dare, set-up by the other two. All three of them were hopeless at swimming - the dare was the only thing that had been motivating them to complete the obligatory race at their school’s annual Swim Meet. Lucas had agreed easily then, giddily thinking about the embarrassing dares he could force the other two to do. He had not considered the obvious consequences. 

“I’ll do it, I’m not a sore loser,” Lucas sighs dejectedly. 

Chenle and Renjun share a look. Lucas gets scared as he watches a mischievous grin form on Chenle’s face. Suddenly, at the same time, the two of them burst into laughter, eyes crinkling. 

“We’ve already talked about what we’re going to do to you if you came last,” Renjun announces, sending Lucas into shock. 

“What? You guys have already discussed this? You guys are terrible, I’m breaking the mutual.” Lucas says in mock offense. Renjun and Chenle better be ready to catch these fists. 

Renjun rolls his eyes. 

“Shut up you boring local, maybe we’ll talk to you when you let me blast EXO in the car.” 

Chenle cackles. “Brutal!” He says, kicking at puddles of water gathered by the poolside. Lucas shivers, feeling intimidated. Before befriending Chenle, Lucas would never have thought that a boy as pure, innocent as Chenle would be capable of planning whatever evil schemes he was probably already plotting against Lucas. 

The trio make their way back to the bleachers, Renjun fishes out his phone, rapidly typing something onto his phone. Lucas hears Chenle’s phone buzz, and similarly, Chenle takes out his own phone, typing just as quickly, mirroring Renjun’s motions. 

“You guys texting each other in front of me,” Lucas deadpans. He takes a bite of his soggy-looking ham-and-cheese sandwich. Ah, the bitter taste of failure. 

Renjun glares up at him. “We’re making important decisions,” 

A beat and a half later, Lucas hears a pinging sound coming from his phone. Did Renjun and Chenle finally decide that it was time to include Lucas in the conversation? About time. He unlocks his phone. 

**new message from: [the three musketYEETers]**  
**[renjun0324 attached an image.]**

Lucas clicks into the image. Fingers itching with curiosity, he enlarges the title of the advertisement. 

_SHOP WITH YOUR OWN KOREAN OPPA NOW!_  
_Now at $XXX an hour._  
_Go splurge, eat your favourite food, or simply have fun with your very own Korean Oppa!_

Lucas squints at the small print. 

“What,” Was this what he was supposed to do for the dare? Go pay some random Korean dude to hang out with him? That sounded a bit sad to him. 

“Yeah,” Chenle supplies helpfully. Renjun’s eyes dart from Chenle to Lucas, nervous. 

“Like, actually?” Lucas says aloud, and Renjun nods. 

“Yeah, like, actually. Come on, it’s not that bad, dude. You’ve had worse,” Renjun subtly tries to push Lucas into doing the dare. 

Well, he wasn’t completely against the idea - but how awkward would it be? He pauses to think for a bit. Well, he supposes 2 hours won’t hurt, no matter how awkward it could potentially get. He would just treat this opportunity as making a new friend anyway, right? Lucas hums in careful consideration. This doesn’t sound like too terrible of a dare. 

“Alright, I’m willing to do it,” Lucas announces with an air of finality. Renjun and Chenle look up, wide-eyed in surprise. 

“Wait, really?” Renjun says unbelievingly. “We didn’t think you’d agree to it so quickly.” Chenle’s expression shifts from surprised to mildly amused, then he grins widely. 

Lucas shrugs nonchalantly. “It’s not that bad of a dare. I’m not a sore loser.”

“Well, alright, why don’t you go right away then?” Chenle suggests. Lucas blanches. 

“Dude, I smell like chlorine, I’m going to scare the guy away,” Lucas says with a face of disgust, taking a step back from Chenle. 

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Chenle giggles at Lucas’s expression. “You can go home and get yourself cleaned-up first, then you better get going.” Upon hearing that, Lucas slings his bag strap over his shoulders, and gets ready to leave. 

“Wait,” Renjun begins, and Lucas pauses in his tracks. “You’re free to go, but under one condition.” Chenle seems confused. Well, that’s a first. 

“You need to take a picture with the guy, so that we know you actually did it.” 

Chenle’s expression lights up. 

“Great idea, Renjun!” He beams at Renjun. Lucas sighs. He supposes that it was a reasonable request from Renjun. 

“Alright, alright. Am I free to leave now?” Lucas gestures at the exit, preparing to leave. He really could not stand the smell of chlorine lingering on his skin any longer. 

“Yes, yes. Have fun!” Chenle waves him off, and Renjun does the same. His friends bid him farewell, and he sprinted back home, eager to scrub at his skin until the smell of chlorine wore off. 

 

Opening his closet, he pulls out a clean shirt - one that he found buried deep inside his closet. He decides that he should at least make some effort in dressing well for the occasion - it only seemed polite to make an effort to look presentable when meeting someone new. He removes a leather jacket off a clothes-hanger - the one that had fur inside. He pats off some of the dust gathered on the jacket, and shrugs it on. Looking at his reflection in the mirror, he thinks he’s ready to go. 

He grabs his phone off his bedside table, and snaps a picture of his Outfit of the Day. He feels Instagram-famous all of a sudden. 

**[the three musketYEETers]**  
**[lucas0125 attached an image.]**

**lucas0125** : y’all 

**renjun0324** : ARE Y’ALL SEEING THIS

 **chenlegend1122** : LUCAS?? YOUR MIND

 **chenlegend1122** : WHATDJDJSKFJD??? YOU SNAPPED

 **chenlegend1122** : you dethroned me. i’m no longer chenlegend. make way for l(egend)ucas 

**renjun0324** : go off king!!! lucas made some points or something i guess 

**lucas0125** : thanks you guys :’) and i’m off 

**chenlegend1122** : omg lmao u actually put sooo much effort into your outfit for once?? newsflash: lucas is actually trying?? 

**renjun0324** : WIG 

**lucas0125** : ok bye renjun! and chenle too i guess :/

 **chenle1122** : HEY 

 

Lucas slips his phone into his pocket, and leaves the house. He hops on a bus, and he starts to feel nervous. What if it goes terribly wrong? Lucas decides to stop overthinking. He was on his way anyways, there really wasn’t anything to lose. As the bus jostles along the bumpy road, his nerves die down a bit until he reaches the mall. 

The exterior of the mall looks perfectly fine - Lucas took one look at the address printed on the picture of the advertisement Renjun had sent him - on his way here, he was thinking it would be located in some kind of shady mall. Confidently, Lucas alighted the bus, and walked towards the mall. Upon seeing a McDonalds a couple of blocks down the street, his mood was lifted within seconds. Perhaps when he finished this absurd dare, he would treat himself to a McFlurry. 

He pushes open the large, fancy-looking glass doors adorning the entrance of the mall, and takes out his phone, clicking into the photo Renjun had sent him. Korean Oppa Services located on 3/F! Lucas pocketed his phone, and went on the escalator leading up to the third floor of the mall. Peering down at the mall, this mall was certainly a great date location for couples on their first dates - brightly-coloured walls, a food court down below. Assuming that the advertisement was credible, and that you could really be going around splurging, and going shopping with your very own Korean Oppa!, this was the perfect place for the Korean Oppa Services to be located at. Lucas grips onto the escalator handle tightly, admiring the strings of fairy lights strung tastefully around the Christmas tree below-

Then he trips. Thankfully, he did not fall on his face. However, he slams into someone. 

He looks up, and he feels a pair of hands grip his sides tightly. He looks up at a man wrinkling his nose in confusion, eyebrows knitted together in a scowl. His bangs, dyed a light orange, were covering the span of his forehead. Lucas was finding it slightly difficult to take that man’s assumably agitated expression seriously - when the tips of his bangs were poking into his eyes like that. Lucas holds back a laugh. The man soon realises he was still holding onto Lucas - he lets go quickly, cheeks dusted slightly pink. 

“I’m sorry about that,” Lucas holds up his hands in apology, trying to sound sincere. The man just huffs, and disappears into the crowd, no shadow to be seen. 

“What was that about,” Lucas mutters to himself, wondering what had just happened. He hopes his date with his Korean Oppa would go… way more smoothly than that. 

Wading his way through the crowd of people who were gathering around a shop which was offering some discount, he sees a sign nearby - Korean Oppa Services. Lucas walks towards the shop, and he feels a bit nervous. He was not planning on backing out - but he feels nervous nonetheless. 

Lucas walks in, careful footsteps and all. He approaches what looked like was the reception counter - a girl was sat there, seemingly concentrating on something else (Tetris?) rather than the approaching customer. 

“Uhm, hello?” Lucas clears his throat, and the girl looks up abruptly. 

“Oh! Hello! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you coming. How may I help you today?” The girl smiles at him apologetically, her blonde hair slightly distracting. Her name tag read Elkie - Assistant. 

“Oh, I saw an advertisement about your uh...Korean Oppa Service?” Lucas starts slowly, “I would like to ask how this works? I may want to try that out today,” 

Elkie frowns slightly, and fidgets a little. 

“Sir...I’m really sorry about this, but… We only have one of our Korean Oppas in today, since it’s a Monday. Which means, you won’t get to choose who you’ll get to go on a date with today…” Elkie says, putting on her Dealing With Customers voice. 

“Oh, no, that’s fine! I can go with that,” Lucas quickly reassures Elkie. This was for a dare anyways, so choosing who he got to go on a date with didn’t really matter that much. 

“Oh, that’s fantastic! Thank you so much. If you’re interested, would you like me to explain how the pricing here works?” Elkie looks visibly more relieved. Lucas wonders how many fussy customers Elkie has to deal with on the daily. When Lucas nods a bit too eagerly, Elkie laughs. 

“Alright, so you can sign up for the 2-hour package, which is the package most of our customers choose… Though if you would like to extend your time, you would have to pay more,” Elkie explains, as she flips through a brochure, pointing out certain things to Lucas in elaborate detail. Elkie continues to explain the differences between the different packages, and Lucas is impressed, to say the least, that this was actually such a meticulously thought-out business. It was no wonder he often sees young girls flocking to this place. He ends up settling with the 2-hour package. After settling the payment, he follows Elkie into a room, where apparently his Korean Oppa would be waiting for him - he feels slightly nervous. Maybe slightly was an understatement - he could feel his heart rate increasing exponentially as the distance between them and waiting room decreased. 

Elkie knocks on the door of the waiting room to let the person inside know that they were coming in. As she twists the door knob, Lucas feels his heart thump against his chest. 

She opens the door, and the man inside stands up, and Lucas immediately blurts out - 

“Dude, what the fuck?” 

The moment Lucas opens his mouth, he regrets it. In front of him was the orange-haired man he bumped into moments ago, wrinkling his nose. Again. There was a beat of painfully awkward silence, the two of them staring at each other in shock. That moment seemed to stretch on forever, and Lucas regrets everything. Elkie parts her mouth in confusion, about to say something. 

“Oh, so this was where you were headed to,” The orange-haired man says softly, sounding slightly amused. Elkie looks back and forth between them, not knowing what to say. 

“Ah, it seems like you guys have already met each other, haven’t you!” Elkie says brightly, attempting to clear the air. 

“Well then, why don’t I leave you two to have your own fun now? I’ll be heading out!” Tucking a strand of hair behind her ears, Elkie turns to leave the room. 

“Wait, Elkie, two-hours, right?” Lucas confirms. Elkie nods, beaming at the fact that people had actually bothered to read her name tag. 

“Yes, have fun!” Elkie winks cheekily, closing the door behind her. 

Another beat of awkward silence. This was… going terribly, so to say. Well, this isn’t going to end terribly, not under my watch, Lucas thinks to himself. Lucas opens his mouth to say something, when the orange-haired man opens his mouth at the same time. 

“You first,” Lucas gestures at the orange-haired man, letting him speak first. The man smiles. 

“Hi, my name is Jungwoo, it’s nice to meet you….again,” The man extends his arm out politely. 

Jungwoo practically exuded an aura of… calmness. Everything about him seemed peaceful, collected - Lucas could not relate. Up close, he had soft eyes, soft, kind, eyes - yet something about him seemed assertive, like he was in control of the things around him. 

“I’m Lucas,” Lucas reaches out, grasping Jungwoo’s hands. Then suddenly, he draws his hand back - 

“Wait, you’re actually Korean?” Lucas asks, dumbfounded. 

Jungwoo laughs lightly, like chime tinkering in the wind. He knits his eyebrows (again), but this time in confusion. 

“Of course I am. Wait, what makes you think I’m not?” Jungwoo asks, genuinely confused. 

“I don’t know? I thought you guys made up fake Korean names to seem more marketable. You know, you don’t have to actually be Korean - you could pretend to be Korean, and all those girls would still flock to you.” Lucas says, trying to explain. 

Jungwoo hums thoughtfully at that, like he was actually taking Lucas’s explanation seriously.

“Well, Lucas, first of all, I don’t encourage dishonesty while doing business,” Jungwoo laughs. 

“But I would like to ask, what brings you here today?” Jungwoo questions Lucas carefully. “You don’t look like our…usual target audience. Well, I mean! This is a service open for anyone and everyone, but you don’t look like you’re looking for a date. Or I could be wrong.” 

Lucas considers for a second whether he should be telling Jungwoo the truth or not. He does anyway. When he finishes explaining to Jungwoo why he was really here today, Jungwoo bursts out laughing, bending over in a Full Body Laugh. Jungwoo certainly did not look like the kind of person who laughed like that. 

“That’s really funny, Lucas. Though I wish I had friends like yours,” Jungwoo comments casually. Lucas frowns. 

“Your friends aren’t like that?” Lucas says, afraid he has offended Jungwoo. However, Jungwoo does not seem to mind. 

“No, not really. They’re more… studious. You know, college students and all that stuff. They don’t party. Everytime we meet up, it’s more like a studying session - which is why this job kind of gives me a breath of fresh air,” Jungwoo smiles sheepishly. “That’s kind of part of the reason why I got this job. Part-time, though.” Lucas smiles back. 

At the same time, Jungwoo glances at his wristwatch. 

“Oh, should we get going? We could walk around here, if you want. There are a lot of nice shops around. I mean, since you aren’t exactly here for a date… We could just… do this as friends? Like…” Jungwoo pauses, in search of a good word to describe their current situation. 

“Like a bro date,” Lucas finishes for him. Jungwoo seems satisfied. 

“Yes, precisely. A bro date. Homies. You read my mind.” Lucas beams at that. Did he really just bro-zone Jungwoo, his supposed “date”, within fifteen minutes of meeting? He mentally chided himself, hearing Renjun’s familiar nagging voice in his head. Any previous awkwardness had seemingly dissipated, and Start of Something New from High School Musical plays in Lucas’s head.

“Why don’t we walk around the mall, and see what there is?” Jungwoo suggests, leading Lucas out of the room. Lucas agrees easily, and follows Jungwoo suit. 

The two of them stroll around the mall, and Lucas somehow feels a bit sorry towards Jungwoo for having to wander around the mall aimlessly with him, when he probably has already been around the mall too many times for him to be able to count. Lucas glances towards Jungwoo, expecting him to look at least slightly bored, but even if he were, Jungwoo did not let any of that show on his face. His expression was neutral, like he was willing to go along with anything Lucas proposed. He tucked his army green coat closer to himself, sniffing a little, his nose pink. Jungwoo’s constant sniffing and nose wrinkling resembled that of a rabbit. 

“Sorry you have to walk around the mall with me, dude,” Lucas says apologetically, glancing up at Jungwoo, who was walking alongside him. 

Jungwoo looks up, a puzzled expression forming on his face. 

“Why? What do you have to be sorry for? This is my job.” 

Lucas shakes his head. “You’ve probably been around this mall dozens of times, don’t you get bored?” 

Jungwoo looks ahead. “Well, that is true, but every time I walk around this mall, it’s with a different person,” Jungwoo continues, with a small smile. “So each time, the experience is… really different, you know? And it makes people happy, so why not?” 

Jungwoo sounds genuinely serious when he says that, and Lucas admires his resilience. If he were in Jungwoo’s position, he would never be able to make it out of this job alive. He wonders in his head which part of the job description of ‘splurging and eating with random strangers just because they like the fact that you’re Korean’ seemed attractive to Jungwoo, but Jungwoo seems to read his mind. Terrifying. 

“Honestly, I was kind of against this job at first, but I really needed the cash,” Jungwoo says honestly. Lucas could relate, everyone was in need of cash. 

“I was about to enter college, and I needed the cash, and things were difficult back home. I couldn’t find a job that didn’t require me to work either really long or odd hours,” 

Lucas nods along, attentive to every word Jungwoo uttered. 

“Then, I came across this advertisement one day. I thought the job was kind of odd, but it was worth trying out for, and like I said, I really needed the cash anyway. Elkie, who you've just met - was my high school friend. Her uncle, Jackson, was the one who founded this company. She saw that I really needed the help, so she told Jackson about it. Jackson took one look at me, and I got the job immediately,” Jungwoo laughs. “Because of my dashing looks, of course.”

“Oh,” Lucas says, dumbfounded. Jungwoo laughs, again. 

Lucas was probably looking a bit shell-shocked, judging by the way the corners of Jungwoo’s lips were twitching, it looked like he was trying to bite back a smile. 

“Yes, I know, quite a lot of connections we’ve got there,” Jungwoo says, gesturing towards a crowded area lined with smaller shops. Lucas follows him towards the more crowded area, and he sees a small shop towards the end. 

The sign of the shop read: Kee’s Toys. Lucas’s eyes light up in excitement, and Jungwoo laughs at Lucas’s inner child emerging from his 18-year-old body. Lucas almost runs into a middle-aged woman in the midst of his excitement - to which he earns a _diu lei lo mo!_ ’, much to Jungwoo’s amusement. 

“ _Mm ho yi see_ ,” Lucas mutters an apology, sliding past the woman, catching up with Jungwoo who was a few steps ahead of him. 

“It always makes me laugh when I see locals cuss at my clients in Cantonese,” Jungwoo says, looking over his back to see the woman who Lucas had just bumped into, begin to curse at someone else. 

“Yeah, Hong Kong really be like that sometimes,” Lucas sighs. “Can we go in?” 

Jungwoo nods eagerly, and they enter the small, cramped store, aisles littered with trinkets, small toys, and- 

“Ah, slime!” Jungwoo exclaims, making his way towards the brightly coloured boxes. He let out a soft gasp as he forced open the lid of one of the boxes.

“Jungwoo...I don’t think you’re supposed to be opening them,” Lucas prods him gently. 

“Whatever you say, Lucas,” Jungwoo responds without looking up, proceeding to poke his fingers into the neon-green slime. Gross, Lucas thinks. As Jungwoo sticks his fingers into the slime, it makes a squelching noise, and Lucas winces. 

“This is so satisfying,” Jungwoo sighs, dragging out the ‘so’. The sleeves of his coat were covering half of his hands as he sticks his hands further into the slime. Lucas finds that sort of endearing, seeing that the coat was obviously a little too big for Jungwoo. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something. 

Lucas walks over to the next aisle, and sees a basket. Full of fidget spinners. In all shapes and sizes. His eyes go wide, and he strolls over. 

“Lucas? Where are you going?” 

“Look here!” Lucas waves Jungwoo over. 

Jungwoo looks up to find Lucas, spinning a shiny, silver fidget spinner between his fingers. That one was seemingly expensive and Jungwoo’s face went pale at the thought of Lucas potentially dropping the fidget spinner. Thankfully, at the same moment, Lucas stops the fidget spinner from spinning with his index finger, the spinner slowly spinning to a stop. 

“We should have a spin-off,” Lucas says excitedly, sifting through the basket. There were so many to choose from - he was determined to choose one that radiates the most Jungwoo Energy. Biting his lips in concentration, Lucas sifted through the basket. At the bottom of the pile, there was a teal-coloured fidget spinner. It wasn’t anything super special, it wasn’t too loud, just the right size. But it stands out amongst the rest of the flashy, showy ones, and Lucas thinks he might like that one the best. It reminded him of Jungwoo. 

“Here, this one reminds me of you,” Lucas hands the fidget-spinner to Jungwoo. 

Jungwoo laughs. “Why this one? Because it’s boring compared to the rest?” He jokes, taking it into his hands. 

“What? No, because I think it stands out amongst the rest of them. It’s modest, but it still stands out.” It is not until Lucas finishes his sentence that he realises that he was indirectly complimenting Jungwoo. “Sorry,” Lucas adds sheepishly. 

“No, no I like it! I like it a lot,” Jungwoo offers Lucas a reassuring smile, turning the fidget spinner around in his hands. “I’ll countdown from three.” 

Jungwoo counts them down, and Jungwoo’s competitive streak jumps out. He squints hard at the spinning object, willing it to spin longer than Lucas’s. He glances over at Lucas’s - it definitely was spinning very fast, and he couldn’t tell who’s was spinning faster. There was a short moment where it looked like both of their fidget spinners were not about to stop spinning - Lucas looking just as nervous. The moment seems to drag on, until Lucas’s fidget spinner was slowly losing momentum. 

“Ha! Yes!” Jungwoo watches as Lucas’s fidget spinner slowly spins to a halt. Jungwoo grins at the sight of his fidget spinner still spinning in all its glory. 

“You’re so much better than me, that’s not fair,” Lucas whines, a pout forming on his face. 

“I’m sure you’re better than me at a lot of things, Lucas, so let me be good at this one thing,” Jungwoo jokes, patting Lucas on the back in consolation. Jungwoo pries the fidget spinner out of Lucas’s hand gently. 

“Well, since I won, I’ll pay for these,” Jungwoo says to Lucas, like he wasn’t providing any room for argument. 

Lucas stares at Jungwoo like there was a mosquito on his face and he really wanted to slap it away. 

“Wait, why? You don’t have to, I’ll feel bad,” Lucas says, reaching out to stop Jungwoo from taking his wallet out of his coat pocket. 

“No it’s fine, trust me, I really like it,” Jungwoo says quickly, and Lucas doesn’t question him any further. Jungwoo doesn’t tell him this, but he wanted to buy these to remind him of one of the only times he let himself loose and genuinely had fun on a date like this. Taking the paper bag that the fidget spinners were packaged in, he leads Lucas out of the shop. 

“Where should we go next? Would you like to eat something?” Jungwoo asks, and Lucas’s ears immediately perk up at the mention of food. 

“Oh, I saw a _Cha Chaan Teng_ on the first floor of this mall when I came in just now, can we have milk tea? I’m really craving milk tea,” Lucas rambles animatedly. 

“Speak English please, I can’t Google-translate in my head.” Jungwoo says, deadpan.

“You don’t know what a _Cha Chaan Teng_ is? Dude, do you even live in Hong Kong? I mean the small restaurant on the first floor. You know, the one next to the arcade?” Lucas prompts, “I’m not even convinced that you work here,” 

“Look, the girls I hang out- I mean, go on dates with, all like to go shopping, like, actually shopping. Not for fidget spinners. In H&M and stuff. How would I know of the existence of that restaurant?” Jungwoo says defensively. But still, he follows Lucas along when he drags him to the first floor, bringing him to the restaurant. 

It’s a little old-fashioned, but Jungwoo could tell that it has been renovated to make it look more appealing to young people. The interior had neon-signs lined up on the walls, brightening up the whole place, quite literally. The booth that they were settled in was quite cozy. Jungwoo thinks he likes it. 

“Why don’t we order two milk teas, and shrimp toast?” Lucas points to the menu, at the tiny picture of something that looked like...toast. 

“Shrimp toast?” Jungwoo questions, puzzled. The visual representation wasn’t really helping much. 

“Are you allergic?” 

Jungwoo shakes his head. 

“Alright, you’ll see then. It’s good. I can’t believe you’ve never tried that before,” 

“I’m a foreigner,” argues Jungwoo. Lucas rolls his eyes. “Don’t pull the foreigner card on me, dude. Have you even tried to assimilate into our local culture? Terrible,” 

Lucas puts his arm up, waving one of the waitresses over. He catches the attention of a girl with hair dyed light brown, who comes over almost immediately. 

“Hi, I would like-” Lucas points at the menu, and when he looks up, his mouth goes dry. The girl looks equally shocked, and both parties pause for a while. The girl’s expression quickly returns to normal, concealing her shock with a smirk. 

“Well, fancy seeing you here, Lucas,” The girl pauses before she says Lucas’s name, like it was something to be hesitant about. 

“Hey, Chengxiao, it’s been a while,” Lucas says, voice wavering a little, face turning pale. “Could I place an order?”

The girl, Chengxiao, either did not care that Lucas just attempted to place an order, or she did not understand the request. 

“Hm, can you?” Chengxiao sneers. “We should catch up sometime, though. Or something.” 

“I think I’ll pass,” Lucas brushes her off with disinterest. 

Jungwoo observes the two, and though Jungwoo may not be the most observant and perceptive person ever, it was pretty obvious that they had...history. Jungwoo reaches across the table for Lucas’s hand, and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Lucas, though a little taken aback, does not react. 

Jungwoo clears his throat and intervenes. “I’m not sure if you heard, but we would like to place an order. Two milk teas, and 2 pieces of shrimp toast, please.” 

Chengxiao looks down at their linked hands, and her expression falters. “Yes. Sorry. Coming right up.” 

She turns on her heels almost immediately, hurrying into the STAFF ONLY room.

As soon as Chengxiao disappears from their line of vision, Jungwoo lets go of Lucas’s hand. Lucas heaves a huge sigh. 

“Thanks for that dude, you have no idea how stressed I was,” Lucas spoke, looking like he had just seen a ghost. 

“It’s all good. It’s what I’m here for,” Jungwoo attempts a comforting smile. They don’t speak for a while, but the silence isn’t uncomfortable - Lucas downs his cup of water in the meantime. 

Their food arrives, but Lucas doesn’t look as excited he was before - though he still quickly pulls out his phone to snap a picture of the food. Lucas doesn’t move, so Jungwoo starts cutting the toast into pieces for them to share. 

“That was my ex,” He finally says after a while, stabbing the toast with his fork a little too forcefully. 

“Yeah, I could tell, that was pretty obvious. You looked really shaken. Are you okay?” Jungwoo puts a slice of toast into his mouth, and he could definitely understand why Lucas thought Jungwoo missing out on shrimp toast his whole life was a huge deal. 

“I’m okay, I just didn’t expect that. It’s been a while.” Lucas sighs into his milk tea. 

“I’d be really surprised too. You handled the situation well.” Jungwoo hands him a napkin. 

“Yeah,” Lucas says, stabbing into another piece of toast. “This is good.” 

The two of them devour the rest of the food quickly, and Jungwoo tries to fill up the silence by telling Lucas about the most absurd dates he’s been on. Which most of them have been within this mall. Lucas bursts into laughter when Jungwoo recalls a particular time his date got stuck inside a ball pit. Jungwoo quickly decides that Lucas’s mood was brightening up at least a little. Jungwoo continues to tell Lucas stories about past clients (he ignores the fact that it was part of the company policy that all things that happen during dates are meant to be kept private), and Lucas seems to laugh at everything Jungwoo says. Jungwoo feels touched, it’s been a while since anyone genuinely laughed at stuff he said. Lucas laughs full-bodied, out loud - unlike the way Jungwoo himself laughs. Jungwoo must admit that he found it quite entertaining to watch someone laugh so heartily like this. He finds the way the corners of Lucas’s eyes crinkle up when he laughs hard endearing. 

“Ugh, I feel kind of sick,” Lucas slumps down on the cracked leather sofa seat, pouting. 

“Maybe we should get up and walk around,” Jungwoo suggests, and Lucas hums in consideration. He glances at his phone.

“Hasn’t it been two hours already, though?” Lucas says offhandedly. 

Jungwoo checks his own phone. He looks up. 

“Yeah,” Jungwoo secretly thinks that perhaps time did pass by a bit too quickly. 

“Oh,” Lucas says, and his expression visibly falters. 

_Oh no_ , Jungwoo thinks. He racks his brain for something intelligent to say, as Lucas looks at him expectantly.

“Well, I can pay for another two,” Jungwoo blurts out unthinkingly. Lucas widens his eyes in surprise.

“No, I can’t let you do this,” Frowning, Lucas reaches his hand out to stop Jungwoo, fingertips resting atop Jungwoo’s wrist. His lips form a pout. 

“Why not? Do you not want to… hang out for longer? You know, you still haven’t told me about the time you snuck into McDonalds at 3am and slept there for the rest of the night,” Jungwoo prompts, his anxiety making him speak faster than he could think. “Look, if you’re really not up for that, you really don’t need to. I had a lot of fun, I hope you had fun today too,” Jungwoo mentally prepares himself for Lucas to reject his offer, and tell him he did not enjoy a single moment their time together. He digs his fingernails into his palm. 

Lucas laughs at Jungwoo’s panic-stricken expression, hand still resting on Jungwoo’s arm. “No, of course I do, but I won’t let you pay for it,” 

“No, it’s really okay. I should be the one paying because I’m holding up your time, and I want to thank you properly for uh, being my friend,” Jungwoo rambles on. Nevermind hanging out with Lucas for longer, he just wanted to go home. Fast. 

Lucas seems to notice, smile softening at the edges. Saving Jungwoo the embarrassment, he nods. “Alright. Thank you, Jungwoo, even though I really should be paying. What would your boss think of this?” He sighs, drumming his fingertips on the table. 

“Well, I’m still contributing to the revenue of our business anyways,” Jungwoo reasons diplomatically, and Lucas grins at him gratefully. 

Lucas ends up paying for the meal, because “ _I’ll feel terrible if you aren’t going to let me pay for anything, Jungwoo,_ ”. 

Jungwoo goes along with it anyway, warmth filling his chest.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope you've enjoyed this!! 
> 
> my stuff: 
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> [twitter](https://twitter.com/usertaeil)  
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